10When the CeROArt project came into being, its aim, according to its editorial charter, was to bring together conservators-restorers, historians, art historians and museum professionals. For that matter, it was a museographer, Noémie Drouguet, who suggested the theme for this issue with the idea of attracting a number of contributions from specialists working in her own discipline. To our great surprise, most of the article submissions have been made by conservators-restorers. We are particularly pleased to allow them free reign to provide us with their “in vivo” or “in vitro” experience and even to examine these “sub speculo”.

11The unexpected appearance of conservators-restorers and their contributions to a publication that defines its position somewhere between pure science, human science and social science, has given us great pleasure. On the one hand, it reflects a desire, an innovation, a belief on the part of the stakeholders of conservation-restoration in the evolution of their profession. This now includes aspects involving communication. Our authors have lent themselves enthusiastically to a public exercise on the subject of their interventions. They have also agreed to take up the challenge placed on them by academic conventions in order to present their experience in a scientific article.

12It should be recalled that art historians, pure scientists, chemists or physicists have spoken and written about the subject of restoration for many years. More recently, restorers from major institutions, such as C2RMF and IRPA, have followed in their footsteps, often in collective publications or jointly written articles. But, apart from congresses of Professional Associations (SFIIC, APROA) and specialist symposiums (ARSET), independent restorers have been relatively reserved when it comes to publications.

13There may be several reasons for this: the tradition of being essentially “practitioners”, perhaps a reticence about covering fields viewed as academic, and even the difficulty of finding a publication that is open to these contributions of a very specific scientific nature. A condition assessment, for example, involves a specific style, as does the description of a test protocol focused on aesthetic perception, or the procedures of a complex intervention. There is no “standardised reference” in terms of scientific publication for these approaches: nevertheless, the ICOM forums and the INCCA platform, which deal with influences from all over the world and, in particular, from the English-speaking world, are aiming to create new “communication" models. The conservators-restorers community has understood the knock-on effect of information sharing: it now needs to invent its own form.

14This is not always easy. Between the very categorical “article refused: no footnotes” and the no less convincing “article to be revised: jargon, pseudo-intellectual wording”, the editor sometimes has to play the role of facilitator between the members of the scientific committee, all from different backgrounds and accustomed to distinctive methods of expression. Therefore, issue after issue and special report after special report, we are not ashamed to display the wording: “work in progress”. This is not a sign of prematurity or non-completion, but of a process whose dynamic we wish to preserve. This involves building a strict common language that is effective for conveying practical knowledge. This comes from a tradition, enlightened by science and fed into by humanistic thinking: which gives an idea of its complexity.

15We believe firmly in this project. And you believe in it too. The idea of bringing together in October’s special issue the first publications by young graduates from conservation-restoration schools has met with unprecedented success. Seventeen schools, universities and European institutions have confirmed their participation. Therefore, in October, we will be able to present you with about thirty “prime” contributions in French and in English. In effect, despite the low number of contributions in English, in this issue we want to reaffirm the bilingual character of CeROArt.

16The project to bring together restoration stakeholders and young graduates for a bilingual French-English symposium in Brussels in the third week of November 2011 is also taking shape. The theme retained is “Passing the baton”. Mrs Myriam Serck-Dewaide, Director of IRPA, as well as Mrs Joyce Stoner, Professor at the University of Delaware, have already agreed to jointly chair the event for which we are seeking support and funding.

17In light of these developments, Mrs Isabelle Brajer, Senior Research Conservator at the National Museum of Denmark, Dominique Driesmans, Ceramic and Glass Restorer and Professor at ENSAV La Cambre, and Émilie Froment, Restorer at SRAL (Maastricht) have agreed to support us by joining the scientific committee. We thank them warmly for their help and hope to be able to count on the support of our readers to disseminate and share our initiatives and their results.

18Access to the journal is free. Please register for the CeROArt Newsletter, which will notify the next issue. To register, click the link.